Middle Atlas Rugs: Beni Ourain, Beni Mguild and Beni Mrirt

The Beni Ourain rug is ivory or cream with drawing in dark brown or black: a loose lattice of diamonds, a few crossing lines, now and then a small sign. It has no border. It is the type known for a thick, soft pile.

It is the calmest of Moroccan rugs and the most widely imitated. In a room it works as a pale, textured background that lets furniture and art lead. Among Middle Atlas rugs it is the natural choice for living rooms and bedrooms.

The Beni Mguild rug is the coloured counterpart: a ground of deep red, burgundy, blue or violet, with a simple lattice, bands or blocks in a contrasting tone. Many are long in proportion.

Where a Beni Ourain brightens a room, a Beni Mguild warms it. It suits large, light rooms, libraries and studies, and it forgives spills that would mark ivory. Its long formats are useful in long rooms and wide halls.

The Beni Mrirt rug takes its name from the town of Mrirt. It is denser and heavier than the other two, with a compact pile that people describe as velvety, and its design is restrained: a few lines, a faint grid, or nothing at all.

It is made in many colours, from ivory and sand through camel and terracotta to charcoal and green, and in the largest sizes. That makes it the practical Middle Atlas rug for dining rooms, big living rooms and contemporary interiors.

We hold 152 rugs of these three types. One hundred and nineteen are Beni Mrirt: thirty-three in sand or taupe, thirty in ivory or cream, twelve in camel, and fifty-four of them larger than 86 square feet. Twenty-two are Beni Ourain, seventeen of them on an ivory or cream ground.

Eleven are Beni Mguild: six in burgundy, four in blue and one in teal. The rugs shown on this page come from our whole collection. Each rug is one of a kind, with its exact measurements on its own page. Delivery is free worldwide, duties and taxes included.